Peaceful Doesn't Necessarily Mean Normal
by Rantzilla
Summary: It was a beautiful, bright day in Ikebukuro. Birds were chirping, children were laughing and playing, and externally- all was peaceful. Which is exactly why Celty knew something bad was about to happen.


**Peaceful Doesn't Necessarily Mean Normal**

It was a beautiful, bright day in Ikebukuro. Birds were chirping, children were laughing and playing, and externally- all was peaceful.

Which is exactly why Celty knew something bad was about to happen.

Ikebukuro was _never _peaceful. Ever. Even when there were no gang wars, there was always something going on to stir up the restless population of troublemakers within the city's district. She would usually be patrolling the streets by now, searching for any signs of trouble- but right now, she'd rather just sit lazily on a park bench with one of her closest friends and chat about nothing in particular. That's just the type of day it was.

Yet, something kept nagging her- like when you lay down in bed and can't remember whether or not you left the fridge door open after you got up to get a midnight snack, or when you know your head is somewhere in the city you're in and you have this feeling you know where it is but you can't quite put your finger to it... thus making her unable to fully enjoy what the rare calm day had to offer.

If she could have, she would have laughed at the irony that _calm _was unnerving to her now, Shinra's weirdness was rubbing off on her.

"Celty?" came a gruff voice to her left, shaking her from her reverie.

Right, Shizuo! How could she have forgotten about him? How rude of her... he was probably talking all that time and she was too busy being lost in her own thoughts to take heed...

She typed a hasty apology on her cell phone, showing it to him before pulling back and typing a new message.

[I was just thinking about how unusually calm it is today.]

Shizuo read the message quizzically before genuinely smiling at her. If she had any eyebrows, they would be raised at the strange gesture. Well, it was a nice change for the normally barbaric man but still she had used the word 'unusually' for a reason.

She sighed inwardly, knowing that she'd expected too much of the male, thinking he would share the same sentiments as her.

"It's nice, isn't it?" he said suddenly, eyes now gazing off across the small pond in the middle of the park. "Being able to relax is so rare for me... and sure the calm is pretty... unusual, but I'd gladly welcome calm over chaos any day."

Celty stared at him quietly, mulling it over in her head. It made sense, didn't it? Of course the strongest man in Ikebukuro would find peace in the calm, unlike her, who only found it unsettling. He was constantly fighting, raging, agitated... it must be nice for him to take a break from all that. It was thoughtful of Tom to give him the day off today, actually... that man is smarter than he looks.

She wished she could revel in the nice turn of events as well, but that bad feeling just would not leave her gut.

Hesitantly, she typed out a reply, showing it to the male, deciding to share her thoughts.

[Yeah... the calm is nice, I suppose, but don't you have a bad feeling? Like something horrible is going to happen to disrupt this?]

He read, and frowned.

"No... you do? What do you think will happen?"

He didn't sound too worried about it. She mentally huffed.

[I don't know. It's just a feeling. I could be wrong.]

Shizuo read again, before grunting and facing forward.

She eyed him (or... scanned him with invisible eyes... whatever) carefully for a few moments, before she turned back toward the lake, watching children play hide and seek so free of cares and worry. She was jealous.

Celty was also getting very disconcerted in the lack of conversation... she was growing increasingly restless as time wore on (both from the nagging feeling and boredom in general) and started thinking of different subjects to discuss, making sure to avoid any and all incidents lately that have involved Izaya.

Oh! After the news yesterday, there was a frightening report of a UFO sighting!

What a delightful conversation topic! Shinra wouldn't discuss with her, maybe Shizuo finds it interesting?

Celty was about to initiate this exciting new conversation topic, when a feral roar sounded loudly on the seat beside her, making the poor dullahan nearly jump out of her skin. She turned her body to get a good look at the man seated next to her, but he was already gone. Celty sprung to her feet, prepared to chase after Shizuo and attempt to calm him down from whatever raging fit he was bound to go on and perhaps protect whoever managed to piss him off so grandly without her even noticing. Perhaps he spotted an old man flipping up a girl's skirt, a guy abusing his girlfriend, kids getting a little too rough in their playtime, or- or maybe he saw a UFO!

"IIIIIIIIIIZAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAA-KUUUUUUUUN!"

Celty helmet-palmed.

_She should have known._

Then again, she technically HAD known- she had warned him about something bad happening, hadn't she?

Contentedly, she plopped back on her seat- watching a mama bird feed her little babies on the branch of a tree not too far away (after quickly scanning the area for any signs of the inappropriate scenarios that she had cooked up, then double checking the skies for alien lifeforms). Celty had done her good deed for the day, she need not pursue the impossible feat of keeping the two away from each other.

Besides, the peace in her world was perfectly restored- and she spent the rest of the day in complete calm searching for Unidentified Flying Objects (bodies, vending machines, and signs _aside_) as the screams and laughter of an endless battle resonated through the tall buildings in the city.

Everything was as it should be, and if Celty was able to smile- she would have.

* * *

END.

Second DRRR fic! And it's not Shizaya /SOB. Even though I've been lurking Shizaya fics for like, two months. I have a multi-chapter story for them in the making. I'll post when I'm finished all the chapters. Cuz I procrastinate and you'd all hate me xD.

BUT I FAILED AT CELTY'S PoV. WAH.

Oh well, hope you enjoyed anyway.


End file.
